Brother Leon Muhammad: Tribute And Remembrance Services Today

A calling to the attention of the progressive community; Leon Muhammad another of our soldiers has made their transition to the realm of the ancestors.

Brother Omowale Clay of the December 12th Movement summed it up succinctly: “Brother Leon Muhammad made his transition quietly at home yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, August 13, 2014. It came as a big shock to us all, his family, the December 12th Movement leadership and cadre and all the other friends and people who knew him.”

As I can recall, with Leon Muhammad, if it was an event concerning progressive thinking and acting and African people he was there documenting it with his video equipment. The brother had a passion as a videographer when it came to documenting the history of our movement. If he was not there he knew something about it and probably had a copy of the DVD of the event.

Leon has been active in the “Movement” all of his adult life. He was a member of the “N.O.I.” (Nation of Islam) when it was under the direct leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the “first resurrection”- Leon was an “OG”.

More currently, in his last days, Leon was a member of the December 12th Movement (D-12), a revolutionary Pan-Africanist human-rights community based organization. It’s an organization which follows the line of Malcolm –X, as it concerns the internationalization of the struggle to liberate Black People in the United States and throughout the Diaspora, to include the continent of Africa, “by any means necessary.”

Quite possible, the last organization brother Leon got down with is a community based group known as “ Guerrilla Journalism 101”. They meet every Monday at the “International Sankofa Academy” in Brooklyn. There they learn and are taught the skills of writing and journalism by Brother Milton Allimadi, publisher and editor of “Black Star News”. On various occasions brothers Allimadi prints articles written by members of the Guerrilla Journalism 101 group.

Guerrilla Journalism 101 takes as its line “WHO BETTER TO TELL OUR STORY THAN US”. Yes, Brother Leon Muhammad wore many hats, freedom – fighter, videographer, vendor, guerrilla journalist and last but by no means the least, Brother Leon Muhammad was a loving husband and care-giver to a loving wife and father to four loving children-sons and daughters.

To all of us who knew him, we were clear that Leon had much love for African people and that he would not hesitate for a moment to identify himself as an African, a proud African. In keeping it real, Brother Leon had his trying moments too, but, don’t we all. His and my teacher, “Boss Lady”, a moniker he often used to refer to Viola Plummer, would remind us, all of D-12, from time to time that “there are no perfect people in this world.”

Omowale recently relayed to some of us a story one of Leon’s daughters told him of how he came to D-12. The daughter came home one day and said to Leon something like this: "Daddy I met some people today who sound just like you in the things they say and do and believe. Daddy you’ve got to go over there and meet these brothers and sisters."